Effingham Sports Digest Spring 2016

Sports Digest9 SPRING 2016

Josh Reddick Living His Dream

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contributors Luke Smith is a full time photographer and single father based out of Rincon, GA, Having grown up in Cajun country in Louisiana, Luke feels right at home on the Georgia coast and has for the last 10 years. When he’s not doing freelance photography for commercial clients, Luke is spending time with his son.

Katrice Williams She is a mother of two. She graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. After spending a fulfilling amount of time as an at-home mom, she decided to pursue an area of personal attraction—writing.

Cindy Burbage is a native of Richmond Hill.

She began writing in college and took a hiatus to raise her four beautiful children. Cindy enjoys traveling and is always ready for a road trip. She believes that faith is greater than fear.

Kathryn Vandenhouten is a freelance writer who enjoys meeting new and interesting people. She earned her English degree at Georgia Southern University, and caught the travel bug while studying abroad in Costa Rica, where she received a minor in Spanish. After college, she worked briefly in Yellowstone National Park, where she enjoyed hiking and photographing the scenery and the wildlife.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Write to us and tell us what you think. Effingham Sports Digest welcomes all letters to the editor. Please send all letters via email to Jeff Whitten at jeff@idpmagazines.com, or mail letters to P.O. Box 1742, Rincon, GA 31326. Letters to the editor must have a phone number and name of contact.

Phone numbers will not be published.

ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS Effingham Sports Digest welcomes story ideas from our readers. If you have a story idea, or photo essay you would like to share, please submit ideas and material by emailing Jeff Whitten at jeff@idpmagazines.com Stories or ideas for stories must be submitted via email, and we only feature people, places and things in Effingham County.

04 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

Sports Digest9 Julie Hales owner/publisher julie@idpmagazines.com Jeff Whitten editor jeff@idpmagazines.com Lane Leopard graphic designer lane@idpmagazines.com Lea Allen administrative assistant circulation lea@idpmagazines.com DiAnna Jenkins account executive dianna@idpmagazines.com Marsha Stewart account executive marsha@idpmagazines.com Effingham Sports Digest is proudly produced by:

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What’s Inside

Josh Reddick and Clarence Morgan

7 8

Editor’s Thoughts

13

Hometown Hero: Josh Reddick Gives Back

16

Frank Sulkowski: Going Big

22

Paul Johnson: Lost Plantation’s Golf Pro

Josh Reddick: Reddick Rules

06 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

28

Faith Equestrian: Changing Lives One Ride At A Time

33

Helen Brant Reynolds: ECHS Hall of Famer

38

Effingham County Recreation: Plans For New Athletic Complex

42

Effingham Jaguars

45

Isiah Royal Wins State Championship Again

EDITOR’S Thoughts

Spring is here!

Spring is a season when all things seem possible. Sports are a universe where anything is, as long as you don’t give up. That’s the lesson Oakland A’s outfielder Josh Reddick has for all who chase a dream. “Never give up, and don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not good enough.”

That’s the example set by Isiah Royal, now a three­time state champ despite missing most of his senior season due to an injury.

Don’t quit.

In this issue you’ll find others who know what it’s like to face disapointment and defeat, but they didn’t quit. Frank Sulkowski played football until a knee injury derailed his career. He Jeff Whitten, EDITOR could’ve gone home. He chose to “go big” instead and how he’s widely considered to be one of the best sports reporters on local TV. Faith Equestrian’s Bonnie Rachael didn’t have a perfect childhood, but she used her love of horses to help herself and others, and what she’s created is making a real difference in the lives of many.

Paul Johnson, now pro at Lost Plantation Golf Course, used golf to get a free education and sees in it more than just a way to kill a few hours. To Johnson, golf prepares one for life and all that life brings with it, good and bad.

Helen Brant Reynolds starred at Effingham County High School, and as a first­year coach helped the ECHS softball program make the transition from slow pitch to fast pitch by winning a region title and making a run to the state finals in Columbus. No quit there. Reynolds is still helping kids find joy and teamwork and all those other life lessons out there on the softball diamond.

Also inside, there’s an update on the “Miracle on Highway 21,” the new Effingham Country Recreation and Parks complex. A ribbon cutting is set for March 4, and they’ll start moving dirt soon afterward. And if there’s anyone in Effingham County who exemplifies sticking with something, it’s ECRP Director Clarence Morgan. He’s battled health issues and time and so much more, but the man just keeps on doing everything he can to make Effingham County a better place for all of us through the magic of sports.

Welcome to the Spring 2016 issue of Effingham Sports Digest and we hope you have as much fun reading it as we had putting it together.

Thanks.

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 07

REDDICK

I

RULES

story by jeff whitten

photos by Michael Zagaris, Oakland Athletics

f the baseball gods are on their game, this will be Josh Reddick’s big year.

The former South Effingham High School standout turned Oakland A’s right fielder is entering free agency after the 2016 season, and if he plays to his 2012 form, Reddick should be among Major League Baseball’s top free agents by the time the dust settles this fall.

“You hear a lot of players talk about it and say it’s not about the money, but the last year of a contract is the year where everybody focuses on playing well and getting the big contract,” Reddick said.

“I’d love to have a great year every year, but the free agent year is kind of magnified and looked at a little bit differently.”

Not that Reddick, entering his sixth major league season, hasn’t already given notice he’s capable of being among the game’s best players. He’s had plenty of moments in the sun since he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 17th round of the 2006 amateur draft.

After a 2011 trade to Oakland, the former Mustang, who never showed much power, smacked 32 homers and drove in 85 runs for the A’s in 2012, Reddick’s first full season in the majors. That same year he finished seventh in the American League in triples with seven and won his first Gold Glove after finishing near the top in nearly every defensive category known to man.

Injuries plagued Reddick in 2013 and 2014 - he missed good portions of both

08 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

seasons - but Reddick bounced back last year to lead Oakland with 20 homers and 77 RBIs. He remained among the top defensive right fielders in the game as well, again becoming a finalist for the Gold Glove, and among baseball writers Reddick is generally considered one of the A’s top young veterans.

And, Reddick says he’s healthier now than he’s been in a while.

‘I feel great,” he said, shortly before heading to spring training. “This was the first offseason in a while I haven’t had to do any kind of physical therapy to fix something that was injured, or tweak something that was injured. I feel really good.”

That optimism extends to his ballclub, which struggled to a 68-94 fifth place finish last season after back-toback playoff years and a 2013 American League West title. “We addressed some of the issues we had last year, when we would give runs up late and teams would rally to beat us. If we can win half those one-run games we lost last year, we’ll be in contention for the division again,” Reddick said.

What’s more, there’s also the walk-up music to ponder. Reddick, a carefree sort, made a splash in 2014 when he began using the George Michael ballad “Careless Whispers” during his trips to the plate.

It went viral on the internet, as they say, and quickly became an A’s fan favorite.

It even got Reddick a writeup in Rolling Stone since most ballplayers use more upbeat stuff (remember Chipper Jones

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 09

and “Crazy Train”?).

Yet “Careless Whisper” might be history at A’s games. Or not. Because while it might be tough to focus on the guy on the mound when fans are serenading you with the song’s unforgettably cheesy “never gonna love again” line, the song has become something of an institution in Oakland when the A’s are in town.

Reddick said he’s keeping his options open.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Reddick said. “’Careless Whisper’ makes it kind of tough to get locked in because you’re trying your best not to smile in reaction to the crowd. I found a wrestling song I’m really liking at the moment, and right now I’m thinking it’s the 95 percent winner.”

Wrestling song? Yep. Reddick is an unabashed fan of professional wrestling and lists HHH as his favorite wrestler, and Reddick has borrowed the wrestler’s theme music in the past, in the years before “Careless Whisper” got into Reddick’s head and wound up as his walk up music. And like most pro wrestling fans, Reddick wants to participate.

“I’d love to get in the ring. I don’t know how much they would let me do per say, but I’d love to get in there and have some kind of interaction. Especially in the hometown of your ball club. Wouldn’t it be great to come down the ramp in front of all your hometown fans?”

Though that might be in Oakland, home as in Effingham County remains important to Reddick, who at 6-foot-2 and about 195 pounds is built more like a wide receiver than a wrestler. Unlike pro athletes who move away from home and don’t return, or wait until their careers are over to move back to where they were raised, Reddick lives in Effingham County during the offseason. It’s here, through his foundation, he helps to raise money for local causes ranging from recreation to public safety to animals.

“I think you always need to give back, that’s important to me,” said Reddick, who also donates out of his own pockets

10 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

- he recently gave $5,000 to his alma mater’s baseball program. “The kids are our future. If I’m able to help them become better, I’m going to help. I’m just trying to make an already outstanding county that much better.”

So, there’s a golf tournament, a popular home run derby and a concert, and those have raised tens of thousands of dollars, which have been put to good use in the two years the Josh Reddick Foundation has been giving back.

Reddick made it possible because of baseball, which is all he’s ever wanted. “When I was 5 years old I knew it was what I wanted to do and I’ve never backed down from it,” he said. “It’s been my goal from day one and I have had every opportunity to achieve that goal, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.”

That’s some of what he tells kids now, when they ask. “To the ones willing to ask the questions, I’m all ears, but it’s kind of tough to convince these kids to

ask questions of someone like myself. If I put myself in their shoes, it would have been a tough situation for me to talk to a major league ball player. So I tell all the coaches, ‘Hey if they want to ask me something tell them to go ahead, they’re not going to bother me one bit.’ As much wisdom as I can put into the minds of these kids and help them out, that’s what I’m here for.”

As a kid, Reddick’s baseball hero was the great Ken Griffey Jr, whose nicknames were “Junior” and “The Kid.” “He’s a guy who played the game the right way and it kind of hurt his career because of it,” Reddick said. “He played it at 110 percent, and I firmly believe he would have been the greatest player who ever lived if he hadn’t got hurt so often.

He would have been the only guy to hit 800 homers in his career.”

Among current pitchers, David Price is the toughest for Reddick to face while James Shields is one of those he has

had a fair amount of success against.

Shields, and anybody wearing a Rangers’ uniform. Bottom line is some players hit some pitchers better than they hit other pitchers. It’s a rule or something.

“Everybody has one of those guys who always seems to get you out, one of those guys you can’t stand facing, everybody has that guy, and everybody has that one guy you love facing. “ Reddick is 29 now, and entering what may be the prime of the only career he ever sought, in large part because that’s how he was raised by Kenny and Cheryl Reddick, who told him to chase his dreams as hard as he could.

“I never had a plan B,” he said. “The biggest thing my parents preached to me is never give up and don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not good enough. I got told that my whole career, and I’m still getting told that sometimes.”

Sounds crazy, right? If all goes right, 2016 changes that for good.

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 11

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Home Town Hero Josh Reddick Gives Back

I

story by jeff whitten

photos provided by the josh reddick foundation

t started with a home run derby five years ago, but became a full-fledged foundation in 2014.

And while according to the Josh Reddick Foundation website, its mission is to be an advocate for youth through sports, there’s more to it than that. Much more.

This year, the Josh Reddick Foundation donated thousands to public safety, the Truetlen House, Effingham County Animal Shelter and Effingham County Parks and Recreation. That’s on top of money the foundation donated to schools, baseball programs and for scholarships.

Josh Reddick Foundation secretary Jan Landing estimates it will have given approximately $20,000 back to the community in 2016 once everything’s added up. That’s apart from money the foundation’s founder, Oakland A’s outfielder Josh Reddick, has donated on his own.

For Reddick, the idea of giving back has expanded from focusing on kids into “give where you see a need.” Landing, a retired banker, is among those who volunteer to run the Foundation for Reddick, who essentially serves as CEO. Also on board as president is Trey Saxon; Brian Coulter is vice president and Donna Sheppherd is treasurer.

All of the Josh Reddick Foundation’s work takes place during the baseball offseason while Reddick is in town, and this year included a Colt Ford concert in Rincon, a golf tournament in Pooler and the Josh Reddick Home Run Derby.

That Derby remains one of the Foundation’s best-loved fundraisers, and it’s now put on in large part by ECRP under the leadership of Clarence Morgan. “He does everything to help out,” Reddick

said. “Any time you see inmprovements made in Effingham County, Clarence Morgan’s name is usually in front of it.”

For Saxon, a successful local music promoter, the Foundation’s appeal is that the money is raised locally and stays in the community. “The thing I appreciate about it the most, being born and raised in Effingham, is being able to give back to our own community. Being able to raise the money in Effingham, and then being able to turn around and give it back to Effingham, is a pretty sweet deal.”

He said he and other volunteers are tasked with helping the foundation grow, and Saxon would like to see artists such as Rincon’s Billy Currington headline future concerts to benefit the Foundation. Landing, who worked for Bank of America for more than 20 years and said she was was brought up by her parents to help others, also expects the Josh Reddick Foundation to continue to look for ways to make a positive impact in the community.

That’s why she and other Josh Reddick Foundation volunteers are “invested” in the work, she said, and why the Foundation is aiming at “giving where there’s a need,” whether it’s for scholarships, youth sports equipment or for needs at the Effingham County Animal Shelter or to help local firefighters and public safety personnel.

“Josh has a big heart,” Landing said.

“We see his vision, and we want to be a part of his vision.”

For more information about the Josh Reddick Foundation, check out the group’s Facebook page, email reddickfoundation@gmail.com or visit www. joshreddickfoundation.org.

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 13

Josh, Treasurer Donna Sheppard, Josh Visiting The Secretary Jan Landing, Effingham County President Trey Saxon Animal Shelter (not pictured VP Brian Coulter)

Presenting A Check To South Effingham High School Mustang Baseball

Presenting A Check To The Treutlen House, and Dropping Off Donations For The Boys

Presenting A Check To The Effingham County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit

Josh with the Elite Stars. They donated $600 to the Josh Reddick Foundation made from fundraisers.

Presenting A Check To The Effingham County Police and Fire Departments

Presenting A Check To The Effingham County Rec Department

14 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

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Frank Sulkoswki:

GOING BIG

F

story by jeff whitten

rank Sulkowski has a simple philosophy. Go big, or go home.

And he’s not going home.

Sulkowski, a Rincon resident and the sports anchor at ABC’s Savannah’s affiliate, WJCL 22, is a fixture at area high school games and college signing ceremonies. And his ebullient “Big Guy” persona, knowledge and drive combine for a natural fit in the sports world, so much so Sulkowski is a regular winner of popularity contests such as Connect Savannah’s “Best of” awards.

But who is “The Big Guy,” and how did he get that nickname?

For starters, Sulkowski is a graduate of Tift County High School, Class of 1992, and hails from a football family as one of three brothers to play college football.

Ryan and Joe now coach high school and college ball.

Sulkowski played his football at East Tennessee State, but after knee injuries ended his career early, he transferred to Georgia Southern, graduating in 1997.

By then, he already knew he wanted to be in sports journalism, and one family member always thought he’d be on TV, just not in sports.

“Growing up, my mom used to say I was always keeping an eye on the weather,” Sulkowski said. “She thought I would become a weatherman. But it wasn’t until my freshman year of college that I decided to pursue sports journalism. I was either going to do that or be a special

16 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

photos by luke smith

education teacher.”

The Weather Channel’s loss was sports journalism’s gain. And while at Georgia Southern, Sulkowski wound up working with WTOC legend Rick Snow, one of the Coastal Empire’s longest-tenured sports anchors and one of its most popular.

It’s an opportunity Sulkowski remains grateful for.

“My senior year at Georgia Southern, I was required to do an internship,” he said. “ I spent three months at WTOC. While they are a rival station now, I can’t thank Rick Snow enough for all he taught me. He gave me a chance during the summer of 1997, spending time with me and helping me get a taste of what TV was really all about. He is a dear friend and mentor.”

Sulkowski’s first real job after college was as a reporter for Georgia Public Television’s top notch Prep Sports Plus program. Then came 2006, which was a landmark year for Sulkowski. He landed the WJCL job, a nickname, and a wife.

The nickname came first. “I walked into the station to meet the news director. He says, ‘Damn, you are a big guy.’ It stuck from there.’”

Sulkowski was hired, and, toward the end of that year, he tied the knot. “I married my wife Lori at the Forsyth Park Fountain in December 2006. We have two little girls, Abbie and Aubrey.”

Still, as anyone who’s worked in journalism knows, the hours one spends on the job far outnumber the hours one

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 17

spends at home.

Still, like any reporter worth his salt, Sulkowski took his opportunity at WJCL and ran with it. He’s still running with it.

“When I first got to WJCL, I knew the sports department had room to grow and improve. The only way to do it was to get out to the schools and cover everything and anything they had going on.

Signings, practices, games, pep rallies, whatever there was. I put in long hours in order to expend our viewing area and grow relationships with the coaches, athletes and fans,” he recalled. “Every school takes pride in their sports teams and traditions. I wanted to be the guy that they turned to for help in spreading the word. I have also been very lucky to have management at the station that allows me to devote so much time and resources to do that. I’m also blessed to have Stefanie Frerotte as my weekend sports anchor and reporter. We don’t like to lose when it comes to covering stories so our partnership works great. And local sports are every day, so you can’t take a day off if you want to do this job right.”

It doesn’t hurt that Sulkowski and Frerotte will cover just about everything sports related, to include signing ceremonies for athletes in sports that otherwise attract little notice. Often, he’s the only TV guy at these ceremonies.

“To me signings are one of the biggest days in the lives of our student-athletes,” Sulkowski said. “Getting the chance to go to college and continue playing the sports they love while having school paid for is an amazing opportunity. I love being able to spotlight the teens and their families on this special day, cause it is just that, a special day. Not everyone is going to sign with a Florida State or University of Georgia. But a free education and playing the sport you love is a huge deal, and I like helping make it a special occasion.”

Now, if all that isn’t enough to keep one busy, Sulkowski has also become a part of the Georgia Southern Radio Network and helps host the football tailgate show, where he sounds like a kid who’s

18 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

just been given the keys to the candy store.

“I love doing it,” Sulkowski said. “I get to travel with the team and cover the games for WJCL, but I also get to talk about Eagle football for two hours before kickoff. The radio crew has turned into some of my best friends. Hey, in this business, football season is when you make the donuts. It’s the busiest, but most wonderful time of the year.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Sulkowski’s family apparently doesn’t mind sharing The Big Guy with the rest of the Coastal Empire.

“Without my girls, I would not be able to do the job I love,” he said. “The workload is so demanding and they support me all the way. I work some wild hours and we go without seeing each other a lot. That’s why when I’m not working or doing something work related, we are spending time together.”

A lot of that time spent together is spent in Effingham County, which has grown near and dear to the Sulkowskis’ collective heart.

“I do like living in Rincon,” Sulkowski said. “Growing up in Tifton and my wife growing up in Colquitt, we are used to country living. We wanted a place that was small, but growing, and gave us a good place to raise our children. The school system is amazing in Effingham County, the community is so welcoming and Rincon continues to grow. Heck, we are pumped about the Super Kroger, and the rumor that Chik-fil-A is coming someday.”

In the meantime, the Coastal Empire has plenty of stories to keep an enterprising sports journalist happy, and Sulkowski knows it. Besides, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.

“I’m locked in, this is what I want to do till I can’t do it anymore. Sure, I may not be able to get as much covered as I used to, but I will sure try. I can’t imagine my life doing anything else.”

Hey, that’s what going big is all about.

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 19

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Paul Johnson:

Golf Pro at Lost Plantation

P

story by jeff whitten

aul Johnson’s got one of those names someone almost invariably will think belongs to someone else. There’s Paul Johnson the Georgia Tech football coach, Paul Johnson the English writer and historian, Paul Johnson the actor, and so on and on.

Meet Paul Johnson the golf pro at Lost Plantation.

Now in his second year at the Rincon golf course, Johnson may not be as famous locally as the football coach who guided Georgia Southern to two of its six NCAA I-AA national titles, but he has won his share of accolades.

After all, Johnson is former two-time NAIA All American for Huntingdon College in Alabama, during which time his teams won a pair of NAIA national titles.

He’s a PGA certified instructor, and at his previous course in Alabama, was named the 2008 Dixie PGA “Junior Golf Leader of the Year” and in 2013 was named one of the top 50 junior golf instructors in the country by U.S. Kids Golf.

He’s also married and he and his wife Michelle have three kids, Carter, Ellie Grace and Luke. One or all of whom may or may not follow in their father’s footsteps and take up golf, that’s up to them.

But their dad came by it naturally. Johnson’s own father was a minister for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which meant a lot of moving around. Golf became a way for father and son to bond.

“I was 3 years old and my dad would take me on to the golf course, but the

22 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

photos by luke smith only reason I went was for the root beer and candy bar,” Johnson said, and as he got older he would smack balls around on the putting green, “and to get to drive the golf cart.”

But golf was just fun until Johnson was 13 and his family went on vaction to England. Each family member got to choose something to do, and Johnson’s dad wanted to play the famed St. Andrews, and so did Johnson. After his mother ran some interference for him, Johnson got to join his father.

“We played with two guys from Texas,” Johnson recalled. “My goal then was beat every single one of them through one hole. Through five holes, I had the two Texans beat at least two holes each, but it wasn’t until the 14th hole that I beat my dad, and that hooked me into wanting to play.”

By the time he finished high school, Johnson was shooting in the 70s and earned the ride to Huntingdon. After graduating, Johnson spent time in business before he decided to get back into golf, a game Mark Twain once summarized thusly: “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”

For Johnson, it’s actually more like real life. “You can have a perfect lie on a fairway and hit a shot and get the most unlucky bounce, just like in life, where you can be in a perfect situation with the perfect job, and all of a sudden something weird happens,” Johnson said.

“It mimics life. It has prepared me and it prepares kids I work with on how to

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 23

handle life.”

Johnson, who as a certified PGA pro is both expert in and ambassador for the game, extols its other virtues as well.

“Golfers live 5 percent longer than the average population,” he said. “Salesmen who golf make 12 percent more than people who don’t play, and 90 percent of the CEOs in the Fortune 500 play golf.

The common denominator on all that is golf.”

And it turns out, even pros have favorites.

If Johnson could golf with any foursome in the world it would include two men and a woman.

There’s Davis Love III, whom Johnson once caddied for and, as it turned out, had to borrow a rain jacket for after he - Johnson, not Love - split his pants while picking up a bag. There’s Ben Hogan, whose business acumen, attention to detail and integrity were second to none. “If he were here, I’d call him Mr. Hogan, that’s how much respect I have for him,” Johnson said.

To round out his foursome, Johnson adds Babe Zaharias, one of history’s most gifted female athletes. Athleticism is an important aspect of golf, and Johnson said you can usually tell who will pick up the game the fastest.

“What makes a good golfer? You’re looking for athletes, I don’t care what sport you play, you’re looking for athletes. Those are the kids who pick up any sport quickly, because they have the coordination. That doesn’t mean that someone who doesn’t have great skills can’t become a great golfer, it just means it will take longer to gain those skills.”

While Johnson is well known and highly sought as a youth coach, he’s a pro for all seasons - both for life, and at Lost Plantation, a public course owned by the city of Rincon.

And that means being expert in everything from the game to agronomy to golf cart maintenance, all of which Johnson said he takes seriously. “There’s a respect that comes with being the pro, but with that I have to live up to those standards.”

“I taught a lady who did not start the game until she was 87, and she’s now 92 and still plays the game,” Johnson added. “If a 65-year-old guy comes to me because he’s not hitting as far as I want, if I can give him the 10 yards he’s lost then he’s singing my praises. I’m their ambassador to the club. I’m the pro.”

24 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

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Faith Equestrian

Changing Lives One Ride At A Time story by jeff whitten photos by luke smith and provided by faith equestrian

F

aith Equestrian founder and guiding light, Bonnie Rachael, calls it paying it forward, “it” usually being any way one can help better the lives of one’s fellow human beings.

Only, in Rachael’s case, “it” is very much about horses. Rachael didn’t have an idyllic youth, but what joy the former law enforcement officer remembers from childhood largely centered around horses.

“Horses were therapeutic to me growing up,” Rachael said. “So I felt like it would be really cool to be able to share my knowledge of horses, which is about the only thing I know anything about.

God touched my heart one day and I just felt like what he wanted me to do was start a therapeutic riding center.”

That was in 2006. Rachael did some research, found PATH - short for Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship - bought a book and then “God and I kind of went to work.”

And how they went to work. Initially, Faith Equestrian’s horses out numbered her students 3-2, as in, three horses and two students. Nowadays, there are 62 students and 11 horses and program director Hallie Myers, and Faith Equestrian sits on 10 acres several miles north of Blue Jay Road. There’s also a couple ponds, some ponies, a turkey or two, chickens, and goats Carson and Bates.

Fans of “Downton Abbey” can likely guess who they’re named after.

The horses are specially trained and chosen for their temperament. The stu-

28 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

dents are kids with intellectual, physical or emotional disabilities, many of whom come to Faith Equestrian through the schools. The goal, Rachael notes, is to give people with a disability, from age 4 on up, a way to be integrated into society using horses.

A United Way agency, Faith Equestrian is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization, and it’s not just a place where special needs children are put on a horse and turned loose. There are guidelines, for one thing, and safety is paramount.

It’s essentially a riding school for those with special needs.

“All kids have to apply to come here,” Rachael said, noting doctors need to sign off that the therapy will help. “It’s not right for everybody, there are some diagnoses it doesn’t help, but independence is one of our goals here. Everything we look at doing for a person with special challenges is how independent we can get them to be.”

As for independence, talk to Rachael for long and you learn Faith Equestrian is run on a tight budget and there’s always a need for more help and money. It’s practically standard operating procedure for nonprofits. Right now, much of the work is done through donated work and materials from businesses, churches and volunteers. Rachael herself doesn’t take a salary, and everything else is done to keep costs to a minimum. Still, the center is the largest of its kind in the area and Rachael and her staff of one full timer and assorted volunteers have the requisite certifications, so much so that special

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 29

needs students from five local schools are bused to Faith Equestrian for some quality time with the horses.

And it will grow. Rachael said she is in the midst of improving the physical layout of the place to include more sidewalks, ponds and more handicapped accessible shelters, though that’s all dependent upon finding the money. To make ends meet, FETC does horse camps and fundraisers, and gets grants. In fact, that’s one reason Faith Equestrian became a United Way agency. It’s a way of showing that you serious about what you do. It also helps when applying for grant money.

“The United Way has been very instrumental in our growth, and I will say if you are a United Way agency and people donate to us through the United Way, they can feel good about their donations, because they put us through the ringer.

Everything has to be right, our financials, our board of directors, everything,” Rachael said.

Faith Equestrian is busy on the week and on weekends, and even has its own Special Olympics equestrian team, which competes in different classes ranging

30 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

from equitation to western horsemanship.

“We are an accredited agency with the Special Olympics of Georgia,” Rachael said. “We do two horse shows a year, one’s a local horse show in Sylvania we put on so all the kids from all the agencies come and compete. It’s an actual competition, they compete against kids of their own abilities.”

The other is the state Special Olympics in Gainesville. Last year, Faith Equestrian took eight riders to the event and they came home with eight gold, 12 silver, three bronze and three fourth place ribbons. It made the papers.

It’s a big deal to the kids. It might be a bigger deal to Rachael.

“We train them for several months in order to be able to compete at the state show level, because all these kids need goals to reach, and to compete in a real show is quite a feat for any rider, it’s quite a goal for any rider to reach, and what it does for these kids is phenomenal,” she said.

So is the bond between horse and rider. “Because horses are a prey animal they have a very heightened sense of per-

ception,” Rachael said. “When you walk up to them they can sense how you feel, they can tell if you’re afraid, or maybe sad and depressed. They react to all your emotions, and research has found using them as therapy sessions can be helpful.

And besides that, it’s fun. Children don’t even know they’re learning when they’re on a horse.”

Kids who can’t walk not only gain freedom and mobility, they also strengthen back muscles. Kids with autism have benefited from riding on horseback, once they get over the initial fear of the horse.

“Once you get the child on the horse they just transform, they calm down, they’re quiet, and the horse is moving.

That’s stimulation they need, they can relax and their minds open up,” Rachael said. “Kids with emotional issues, maybe they’ve been bullied and have no self esteem, but by coming here they’re able to handle a 1,200 pound horse ... being able to bond with a horse just totally gives a person with no self esteem a big lift, that friendship of an animal that is not judgmental. A horse doesn’t care if you’re having a bad hair day.”

Horses react differently to different

people, and there’s no specific breed that works best with those who have disabilities. “It’s the horse’s personality. They have to have a stable mind, a laid back personality and be non spooky, because there’s a lot of training we have to do with them. They have to learn to walk through the handicap mounting ramp and stand still, they have to learn to deal with balls being thrown over their head, toys, all kinds of things. It’s a hard job for the horses. They’re special animals.”

Rachael hopes to eventually be able to open FETC to veterans who’ve suffered physical or mental scars while serving the United States. She’s got plans for a blacksmith shop where veterans can learn blacksmithing, and she wants to get more involved with the local schools. But at its core, Faith Equestrian is about the kids who otherwise would have few escapes from prisons of mind or body.

“We want, when people come here, to feel that this is their place. Because it is their place,” Rachael said.

It’s that, and it’s Rachael paying it forward, one special horse and one special rider at a time.

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 31

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Helen Brant Reynolds

ECHS Hall of Famer story by jeff whitten photos by luke smith

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 33

T

hese days, Helen Brant Reynolds is a speech language pathologist for the Effingham County School system. She’s wife to husband Daniel and mother to girls Addison and Emma.

As of February, she’s also an Effingham County High School Hall of Famer.

Reynolds, who played and later coached softball at Effingham County High School, is one of five Rebel greats so honored in 2016, along with Willie Brewton, Seth Goldwire, Alan Hendrix and Tim Townsend. Reynolds was inducted into the Hall of Fame as both player and coach.

“I am humbled to be in the company of so many great athletes from Effingham County,” she said.

It’s a safe bet others in the Hall feel the same way about Reynolds, who starred for Effingham County from 1988 to 1992, a span during which the Lady Rebels won three Region 3-AAAA titles and in 1989 put together the first undefeated regular season in GHSA softball history. Reynolds was a key part of that team and others, routinely winning hustle and leadership awards while also playing basketball and tennis.

But softball was the ticket to an education, and Reynolds earned a scholarship to Brunswick Junior College, where she played two seasons before going on to study at Valdosta State, where she earned both her bachelor and master’s degrees after deciding she wanted to work as a speech therapist.

“I love being able to create an avenue for communication for kids, giving them the ability to communicate effectively gives them an opportunity for a better quality of life,” Reynolds said. “For some it increases a chance at independence, for others it is just that boost of confidence they need to stand up for themselves or give a speech in class.”

Yet she wasn’t done with the game, not by a long shot. Reynolds became an assistant softball coach for legendary

34 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

ECHS coach Vivian Lawson in 1998, and when Lawson retired rather than make the transition from slow pitch to fast pitch, Reynolds took over as head coach at ECHS. It was quite a transition. In their first season, the Lady Rebels won the Region 2-AAA title by beating Savannah Christian, then advanced through the sectionals to the state tournament in Columbus. Reynolds coached one more season before stepping down to raise her kids. To this day, one of her proudest moments as a coach came during that inaugural season when the Lady Rebels proved they could compete with anybody in fast pitch.

“Our team worked hard to prove to everyone in the state that our successful slow pitch softball program could make this transition to fast pitch,” Reynolds said. “The girls worked very hard to learn this new game and they learned it well.

We stayed true to our program and were very strong defensively.”

Reynolds modeled at least some of how she coached after Lawson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

“Coach Lawson was an amazing coach,” Reynolds said. “She taught the game with such passion. I knew she loved the game and loved coaching by how she approached the game.”

For Reynolds, the idea is pretty simple. Teach the basics.

“Teach the game, teach the fundamentals, love the kids and they will want to give you all they have. One of my favorite sayings as a coach is ‘give it all you got between the lines, don’t ever leave a game or practice and say I wish I had done this or should have done that.’ In saying this I also have to give everything I have for my players. I find this type of philosophy effective because it nurtures that mutual respect and love for each other and this great game.”

Though Reynolds prep coaching days are behind her, she still coaches. And that’s led to another fond memory, one that came after she became a mom

Addison, then 8, was playing on the Effingham All Stars and the team faced favorite Vidalia in the Georgia Recreation and Parks District Tournament.

“They were big and they could hit.

We were defensively sound, could hit pretty good and loved to play ball.

The first time we played Vidalia we got beat really bad,” Reynolds said. “We battled the rest of the tournament to make it to the championship game - to play Vidalia.”

Effingham swept Vidalia to advance to the state tournament, where they finished third and, in Reynolds’ words, “found a passion for the game and a passion for their team.”

She still has that passion to this day.

Her Facebook page is as filled with team photos as her time is with softball practice and travel tournaments.

Reynolds learned her love of the game from her coach, and from her parents, Donald and Susan Brant, she said.

They’re her role models, which makes them Hall of Famers, too, if you think about it.

“My parents were typically involved in coaching when we were growing up,” Reynolds said. “They taught us about commitment, dedication and hard work.

In a coaching role you have the opportunity to touch lives, to change lives, to

make a difference. It is not just about the game. I saw my parents picking up kids for practice, staying late to help kids improve on parts of their game, willing to go outside with us to shoot more hoops or to play catch.”

It made a profound impact on Reynolds.

“This dedication to kids, to us, made me want to serve others,” she said.

“Which is how I view my life now. It’s an opportunity for me to contribute to the betterment of others, to the betterment of our community.”

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 35

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EFFINGHAM COUNTY RECREATION DEPARTMENT:

38 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

PLANS FOR NEW ATHLETIC COMPLEX

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 39

T

he new Effingham County Recreation and Parks athletic complex has been called the single-largest expenditure on recreation in county history by far, and it may also be among the most highly anticipated.

The project will cost anywhere from $14 million to as much as $20 million by the time work is finished. That’s not expected to be for another 10-15 years, though it won’t take that long if some former and current recreation board members have their way.

“We hope to be done much quicker than that,” said ECRP Director Clarence Morgan, and there are rumors the final two phases could be consolidated to speed up completion of the project if funding is available. Whatever happens, it’s a safe bet the park will get some use long before then.

The first installment of the threephase project on a 118-acre site between Rincon and Springfield is expected to get under way soon. Once officials hold a March 4 ribbon cutting, Phase 1 of the park could be complete and ready to open in 18 to 24 months. The cost will be between $8 and $9 million.

That phase will include amenities such as concession stands, restrooms, six baseball/softball fields, a pavillion, scorers booths, gym with offices and meeting room, basketball courts, and an ADA playground and awalking trail, Morgan said. A retention pond will also be part of the first phase.

Phase two will include five more baseball/softball fields,four multipurpose athletic fields for football, soccer, lacrosse and rugby. It will also have an ADA accessible playground, may also have a “splash pad,” a dog park and there’s also plans in phase three for a retention pond and a campground capable of accomodating up to 25 recreational vehicles.

There’s also room for commercial development at the site.

“I think it’ll be a hit,” Morgan said.

40 SPRING 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

He’s talking about the campground, but Morgan is also indirectly referring to the entire complex, which he has dubbed “The miracle on Highway 21.”

Morgan said this project was a team effort. “The park is the result of the hard work of a lot of folks, including the Board of Commissioners, the county recreation board, and the county administrator.”

The need for the park has long been apparent. Effingham County’s current recreation department is headquartered in Springfield behind the library and is bursting at the seams. County commissioners in August approved a master plan by consultant CHA Sports for the new project.

The previous largest expenditure on recreation by the county was in 20042005 when some $1.5 million was spent on the Sand Hill Complex.

Morgan has said more than once he’s held off retiring to see work begin on the park. It will be interesting to see if Morgan, who even when working as a coach, teacher and athletic director in the Effingham County school system has been directly involved with recreation in Effingham County since the 1970s, postpones retirement until the new complex is complete.

“We’ll see where we are when we open the first phase and then we’ll go from there,” Morgan said.

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Royal Wins Again

ffingham County High School wrestler Isiah Royal won his third straight state title on February 13 by downing Alatoona’s Will Formato in the 126-pound class, capping a career for the ages and laying his claim as the county’s top wrestler ever.

“He’s the best to come through this county, both high schools, no doubt,” said ECHS coach Nico Guggino. “We have had a lot of really good wrestlers, but none has had the success Isiah has had.”

That success has come as Royal has wrestled up in weight each season. His first state title was at 106 pounds; Royal won the 113 pound division last year, but battled through injuries this season and missed nearly nine weeks.

“This one is more special because he had to overcome a lot this season,” Guggino said. “Being hurt with a torn pectoral muscle that kept him out two-thirds of the season really set him back from

the rest of the kids in the state. He even re-injured it twice. That forced his return date back 5 weeks. Because he fought through that and had the success he did by winning it all his senior year says a lot about his character.”

Royal has credited coaches and teammates such as Zach Baranowski for his success, and now he’ll likely take his talents to the college level.

“He is looking at several colleges and is planning on visiting several within the next month,’ Guggino said. “Because he won his third, more schools should be contacting him within the next couple weeks.”

While Royal’s run is unprecedented, it’s not the first time a local wrestler has won state. The Rebels won the Class AAAAA traditional title in 2009, and Josh Barnhill and Kevin Ulmer won individual titles that year - Ulmer topped South Effingham’s Alex Wendell for the 119 title - while South Effingham’s Robbie Collum won the 140 pound crown.

Effingham Sports Digest | SPRING 2016 45

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